The Story
I photographed this Plain-breasted Ground Dove (Columbina minuta) near La Macarena, Meta, Colombia, in February 2021. It lacks the scaly look of the similar and usually more abundant Common Ground Dove. At 14.5 to 16 centimeters and 24 to 42 grams, it may be the smallest pigeon by weight. It has dark gray to brown plumage with violet spots on the wings, mostly rufous underwings, a gray bill, pink legs and reddish eyes. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender for this one, at 1/180 sec, f/16, ISO 6400, −0.5 EV. Flooded forest covers about 13 percent of La Macarena National Park, mostly along the Guayabero River.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Plain-breasted Ground Dove (Columbina minuta) belongs to the family Columbidae (Pigeons and Doves) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List